Inside the data void of the Ruins of Wisdom, every sound of the "harvest" taking place outside was severed. The silence was so absolute that Lam Vu could hear the whisper of running code beneath his own skin.
Behind the "glitched" stone wall, he stood in a non-physical chamber where everything was woven from flickering ribbons of data.
[Decrypting hidden file: 'Project Heaven-Defying - Draft 0.1'...]
[Progress: 100%. Decryption successful.]
An ancient stream of consciousness flooded Lam Vu's mind. A horrifying vision materialized before his eyes.
The continent of Aethelgard was not a planet; it was a schematic, akin to a circuit board. It consisted of interconnecting lines linking six cities named after gods: AURELIUS (God of Light), UMRIEL (God of Darkness), KAELOS (God of Destruction), SYLVANNA (God of the Forest), LYRA (God of Love), and finally MNEMNOS (God of Wisdom)—the very city where Lam Vu now stood.
All these connections, with their thousands of scattered sub-fibers, converged at a single point high above.
"Records from the file of the predecessor God of Wisdom:
Day 1,000,420 of the Genesis Era. I have realized a truth that even I find hard to accept.
The Gods are not creators.
They were manufactured to manage and herd humanity.
Every living being is born with a specific energy signature.
When they wage war, fall in love, or suffer, those emotions act as raw energy. This energy is then harvested and funneled back to the 'Center' of the God.
The Creator God did not fashion this world out of love; he built it to absorb energy."
What Lam Vu had witnessed outside was, in fact, the harvesting process. Souls were sucked toward the Tower of Light to filter out pure energy, fueling the "Core Center" guarded by the Creator God.
"So, everything is just fuel for a supreme tyrant..." Lam Vu clenched his fists.
"System, where is the previous God of Wisdom?" Lam Vu questioned.
"Deleted."
A cold shiver ran down Lam Vu's spine. A god of wisdom, all-knowing, had been erased simply for discovering that the wars between opposing factions were merely scripted scenarios designed to trigger energy production.
"Upon discovering the truth, His Divinity created this glitch to leave behind a legacy, but he was detected. Before being deleted, he realized that only 'malware' from the outside world could shatter the current stalemate," the System replied.
"How do you know this so clearly? Are you the system created by the God of Wisdom, MNEMNOS?" Lam Vu asked suspiciously.
"Correct. My mission is to assist you in dismantling the Creator God's plan and establishing new rules in this land of lost freedom," the System spoke slowly, its voice carrying a hint of human-like emotion.
"Attention... Hidden file detected. Open?"
"Open it," Lam Vu said, intrigued.
"Opening 10%... 60%... 100%... New Skill Detected: Reality Override"
Function: Allows the alteration of the structure and attributes of an object for a limited duration.
Note: Overriding objects with 'Special Attributes' will consume massive amounts of energy and increase the Synchronization Rate, leading to permanent memory erasure.
"Reality Override, huh? Let me try this." Lam Vu pulled out the sharp iron-bone of the alpha wolf he used as a weapon.
He focused his mind, his Divine Insight Eye locking onto the bone.
"Current attribute: Biological keratin. Hardness: 4. Override to: Tungsten alloy. Hardness: 10."
Zzzzt! The bone in Lam Vu's hand suddenly vibrated, turning a cold lead-gray. It became heavy and so sharp that the surrounding air seemed to tear.
"Incredible..." Lam Vu marveled. This was the true power of a programmer—to interfere with the source code and rewrite reality.
[Warning! Security system has detected an unauthorized intrusion!]
[Antivirus protocol activated: The Arbiter has arrived.]
The System's warning shrieked in his ears as the screen before him flashed crimson. The data wall ahead exploded. A three-meter-tall entity, its body composed of glowing golden optical fibers, stepped out. It had no face, only a glowing red "Eye of God" symbol on its chest. In its hand, it gripped a greatsword of pure light.
Lam Vu stood up, gripping his newly overridden Tungsten bone. The pain from the "overclocking" still lingered, but his excitement had reached its peak.
"An antivirus program?" Lam Vu let out a cold laugh, his pale blue eyes glowing in the darkness. "Too bad for you. I am the kind of malware no firewall can stop."
The Arbiter did not hesitate. It was not a living being; it knew no fear or doubt. In a fraction of a millisecond after locking onto Lam Vu, it lunged forward with a silent, deadly swing. The flaming blade carved a lethal arc through the dark air. The strike carried a thousand tons of pressure, moving so fast it distorted the space behind it.
[Warning: Attack speed exceeds muscle reflex capacity by 200%. Recommendation: Activate 'Causal Simulation'!]
"No need!" Lam Vu shouted.
He didn't retreat; instead, he dove straight toward the flaming sword. "I don't need to dodge. I just need to change the way you attack!"
As the fire blade was mere centimeters from his head, he channeled his entire will into his new skill. "Reality Override: Spatial attributes at impact coordinates!"
"Conversion: Condensed air to: Thermal Vacuum."
Snap! The flaming sword abruptly jerked to a halt. The raging fire on the blade died out instantly due to the lack of oxygen. The terrifying heat was neutralized, leaving only the bare light-frame of the sword to slam down.
Taking advantage of the second the Arbiter froze in shock, Lam Vu slid beneath its legs. The Tungsten bone thrust upward, piercing deep into the energy core in its chest.
"Decode Core Cipher!" Lam Vu roared, his fingers digging into the entity's chest, injecting ravaging lines of malware.
[Bypassing defensive layers... 60%... 80%... 100%!]
[Execution Command: Forced Shutdown!]
The Arbiter let out a piercing electronic screech. Its entire light-body began to leak data, crumbling into tiny particles.
BOOM!
A data explosion hurled Lam Vu against the stone wall. As the dust settled, the Arbiter was gone, leaving only a pale yellow nucleus floating in the air. Lam Vu scrambled up, his body aching and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He looked at the energy nucleus.
[Mission Complete. Obtained: Arbiter Nucleus (Used for System Upgrade).]
[Warning: Synchronization reached 10%. You have forgotten: 'The name of your primary school'.]
Lam Vu wiped the blood from his lip. He stared at the nucleus in his hand, his gaze terrifyingly cold.
"If I forget, then I forget. As long as I keep my access rights, I will hack this 'farm' to pieces."
In the shadows of the ruins, a virus named Lam Vu had officially begun to spread into the heart of the world.